High Major PF Emerges in Vegas

Mike Eubanks

07/28/2003

When Stanford basketball fans think of San Antonio, they reflect upon the magical 1998 Final Four run and legendary overtime battle with Kentucky. Well, more good vibes may come from the home of the Alamo as Stanford looks for a skilled power forward in this 2004 recruiting class. Meet 6'9" Trent Plaisted, who I am naming the best Stanford recruit I saw all week at the Big Time in Las Vegas.

Stanford Basketball has recruited several high profile blue
chip rising seniors from Texas for this 2004 class, and many more
in other years. But when you think of the recruiting hotbeds in
the Lone Star state, your thoughts will drift to the Houston and
Dallas-Fort Worth areas. Indeed, those areas are home to a pair
of elite senior point guards the Cardinal coaches took a crack at
this year: Jason Horton and Daniel Gibson. It may then surprise
you that this week in Las Vegas, the Texas recruit who drew the
most attention from Mike Montgomery was a power forward from San
Antonio.

Clarke High School's Trent Plaisted stands a solid 6'9"
and 215 pounds and has an array of impressive athletic
capabilities that left me very impressed after watching him this
week. This is unquestionably a high major recruit. His smooth
operation around the basket lets him score from a variety of
spots inside 12 feet, and he can step out to shoot to 18 feet.
Plaisted runs the floor very easily, and can finish in
transition. He's a good passer with soft hands, and he's a nice
shot blocker. This week at the Big Time he played with the San
Antonio Rohawks, though he normally plays with the San Antonio
Bulls.

"Last year we came to Vegas and I really liked it a
lot," he explains. "I wanted to come back, even though
joining the Rohawks meant I wouldn't play as much as with the
Bulls. But the guys and I got used to each other, and it was
pretty natural on the floor by the end of the tournament."

Daryl Richardson's Rohawks were already a stacked team with 15
talented players, and he wasn't actively looking to add a 16th to
his roster. "We have had a lot of success this year, and
have great chemistry, so Trent wasn't going to come in here and
take over," Richardson opines. "And there were a lot of
Texas teams he could have joined for this event, but he chose to
be the 16th player on the Rohawks so that he could be with guys
he knew and have a good time. Trent has good feet on perimeter
defense of guards, which is why we put him at the top of our
1-2-2. You would expect a big guy like him to have the footwork
to defend inside, but I think he's spent so much time on the
perimeter that he doesn't have the confidence to defend inside
yet. That will come, though."

Plaisted's limited minutes in games this week with the Rowawks
made him a risky player to watch. Witness what happened to
Stanford head coach Mike Montgomery, who made a trip to see one
such game and caught all of two minutes of the big lefty on the
floor. But Plaisted found a few games with more minutes, and he
produced in a big way. He showed that he can score at will when
he catches the ball with his back to the basket, utilizing his
quickness and athleticism to beat defenders and get good looks at
the hoop. In his final game, he scored an easy 15 points though
playing the minutes of a 6th or 7th man in the rotation.

"You wouldn't know if from watching my games here,"
Plaisted comments. "But I'm really most comfortable facing
the basket at 15 to 18 feet. See, actually, I was the 3rd option
on my high school team last year because our coach puts emphasis
on seniors. There were two seniors ahead of me, and one of them
was a big 6'10" guy. I would basically play and score
wherever he wasn't, and he played mostly inside. I still managed
14 points and 8 boards a game. The Rohawks got me the ball
inside, which is so different from what I did this last year in
high school. I'm trying to work this summer on using my right
hand, and my free throws used to be great but they were awful
here. I guess I better get back on those," he laughs.

Though minutes were spotty at the tournament, that didn't stop
a host of college coaches from watching his games. In addition to
several Stanford coaches, he had Kansas, Georgia, BYU, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt and others in the stands. An even
stronger testament to Plaisted's talent can be found with his
offer list. Already he has scholarships promised to him from BYU,
Utah, New Mexico, Vanderbilt, Texas A&M, Oklahoma State,
Washington State and Florida State. The San Antonio senior says
that he is also strongly considering Stanford and Kansas, though
they have yet to offer.

"With Stanford, I have to apply to get in before they can
offer," he explains. "In fact, I just turned in my
application before coming to the Big Time. I've scored an 1180 on
the SAT and a 25 on the ACT. We have numerical averages at our
school - not GPAs - and I have a 90% average. They can't offer
yet, but I really really hope they do."

A national offer and interest list like Plaisted's will make
for some tough decisions this fall, and he has yet to take any of
his official visits. He has, however, been to camps this summer
at Texas, BYU and Utah. All three were basketball educations for
him, but the latter two were also unofficial trips for him to
check out a pair of his top schools. One visit went badly,
though.

"You know, I expect to get ripped a little when I'm in
college, but Rick Majerus was just laying into me as soon as I
got there," Plaisted laments. "He said that I had the
brain the size of a peanut. I hated it. Utah has been off my list
ever since."

Perhaps BYU proved a more enticing trip, given that the young
Mormon has a natural religious fit with the institution? "It
was better than Utah, but BYU isn't in a prime time conference
like the Pac-10 or SEC," he answers. "I want to be
someplace big time, and I also want to have a chance to play
early. I don't have to start right away, but I want to
contribute. Washington State and Vanderbilt have been very vocal
in saying that I'll play as a freshmen, though most of the
schools say that to some extent."

He goes on to name his top five list of schools as Kansas,
Stanford, Washington State, BYU and Vanderbilt. "I'm open
right now and I'll take all five of my official visits. Two I'll
most likely take will be to Stanford and Washington State,"
he allows. A top list with priority officials to see Palo Alto
and Pullman might be reasonable for a West Coast kid, but it's a
puzzling picture for a San Antonio high schooler. Plaisted
explains the affinity. "We lived a little while in Monteca
(CA), which is near Modesto. My mom really wants me to go out
West, and my parents say they might move out there if that's
where I go to school."

Kansas is another high interest for the 6'9" lefty, and
he's hoping they step up with an offer. "They say they are
very, very interested and may come up with an offer if I continue
playing the way they saw me in Denton," he notes. That
performance in a Great American Shootout event north of Dallas
earlier this summer was a 39-point explosion that sent shockwaves
through the heavily attended event. Stanford was also in
attendance, and that tremendously raised their own interest in
the athletic power forward.

For an LDS kid to have talent like this, and a rapidly rising
recruiting profile, you have to think that BYU would be the team
to beat. But Plaisted says that isn't the case, and he isn't even
sure about taking his Mormon mission. "I'm kinda young for
my grade - only 16 right now," he explains. "I would be
too young to take my mission right out of high school, so I
wouldn't go until after my freshman year. But honestly, I might
not go if I'm playing well in school."

Up next for the San Antonio star is the AAU Nationals in
Orlando, Florida with his regular club - the Bulls. With what I
saw of Plaisted in Vegas, you can count on his grabbing more
headlines and attention in Florida. Watch for news and notes on
the power forward in the next few days, and possibly a growing
offer list.

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